After Modi, South Korean president meets OpenAI CEO

Following Indian prime minister Narendra Modi's meeting with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman on Friday, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol met the creator of ChatGPT in Seoul on Saturday.

The two discussed a variety of topics regarding artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. "ChatGPT is stirring up a global sensation," Yoon told Altman, who is traveling to meet political and tech leaders around the world.

"I asked ChatGPT some questions when writing up my New Year's speech and got some very decent results," Yoon added.

Altman suggested South Korea, one of the world's most active users of ChatGPT, can help advance technologies that power the AI chatbot even further, partly by producing more advanced chips, reports Yonhap news agency.

"Collaborating with the country, home to the world's two largest memory chip makers, Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, is important" said Altman, "ChatGPT needs a vast amount of memory chips and demand for such semiconductors will continue to rise."

Altman also called on South Korea to reduce regulations on AI products and services, and actively participate in setting up international standards.

Yoon agreed on the need to set up global standards to prevent side effects associated with ChatGPT, at a time when the pace of technology development is so fast.

Meanwhile, Altman said that he is ready to invest in promising startups in South Korea. "We love to support people building on our platform. Some of our teams here today are happy to help with that," Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, said during a meeting with Korean businesspeople in Seoul. "We're exploring investing more in Korean startups. And we'd be very excited to explore the joint chip collaborations to develop AI accelerators."

Before working with the Microsoft-backed OpenAI, Altman said he had run a firm that invests in startups and had success in funding deep tech firms, reports Yonhap news agency. "It was my great passion in investing. I really want to see a lot more of that in the world," he added.

He said he was impressed by Korean people's reception of up-to-date AI technology led by ChatGPT and interested in their innovative products, both software and hardware.

"Korea is one of the places in the world that has adopted OpenAI most the earliest, use it the most creatively. It's amazing to see what people are doing here," he said. "Those two combined with the culture of innovation and what's happening with the use of AI, particularly OpenAI, make us very excited to collaborate more deeply with the country."

The 38-year-old American businessman is on a world tour, meeting political and business leaders in several countries, including the United Arab Emirates, India and South Korea.

The global sensation AI chatbot, ChatGPT has garnered fascination and intrigue from across the world. However, recently Altman's OpenAI and its roster of developing AI technologies have come under scrutiny over its uncertain future and possible threat to humans.

Some countries led by the European Union have been moving to regulate generative AI technologies and services, while South Korea has been working on a rule to foster AI products and place liability on service providers in a less restrictive way.

Altman's tour is aimed at holding open discussions with heads of states on ChatGPT and OpenAI's function.

With IANS inputs